On Tuesday night, the Board of Health (BOH) agreed to recommend that no more than 2,000 gallons of water per day (gpd) be drawn from an irrigation well proposed for the Coventry Woods 40B development on Concord Street. The board will also recommend that the developer add a third 10,000-gallon cistern to collect rainwater on site and store water supplied by the irrigation well.

The BOH action was in response to a request from Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) Chair Cindy Nock after her board's continued hearing Monday night on the Comprehensive Permit sought by developer Mark O'Hagan. The BOH recommendations will be submitted to the ZBA before the hearing continues next Monday, February 5.

Is the well needed?

The ZBA's peer engineer, Dave LaPointe of Beals and Thomas, suggested on Monday that an irrigation well might not be needed if certain plantings and establishment methods are used. However, BOH members expressed their concern that the people who live in this affordable housing project would be treated differently than those in other parts of Carlisle, if their ability to water their lawns and plants was restricted.

If capped at 2,000 gpd, the Coventry irrigation well will probably not be adequate to support the establishment phase of the irrigation plan and the board agreed that the developer would probably have to truck in water to supply this phase. Members discussed possible maximum draw amounts, from 1,000 to 8,000 gpd before voting 3 to 1 on a limit of 2,000 gpd, with Martha Bedrosian, Bill Risso and Jeff Brem voting in favor, and Michael Holland opposed.

When to test abutters' wells

BOH members also discussed, but did not agree on, whether the wells of the development and abutters should be tested during the driest part of the summer. "The important thing is that the testing of the abutters' wells be at the same time as those in the development," said Holland. Bedrock wells are not impacted as much by seasonal fluctuations in groundwater, he said.